itBit

While there are dozens of bitcoin trading platforms available to people looking to buy and sell bitcoin, itBit easily differentiates itself from the masses.

itBit’s founders set out to build a compliant exchange which is what sets the New York-based company apart from its numerous competitors. In fact, it is the only regulated bitcoin trading platform open to all U.S. customers.

Company facts:

32 employees

$30 million in funding

Headquartered in New York City

Thousands of users across the globe

Board members include Senator Bill Bradley; Sheila Bair, former FDIC chairman; and Robert Herz, former FASB chairman

Accommodates both retail and institutional traders

itBit Trust Company

itBit has a trust company that is licensed by the New York State Department of Financial Services. The company selected New York state because the founders are based in NYC, and it is the most difficult state from which a license can be obtained. For this reason, the certification is recognized nationwide.

As a part of this license, itBit protects all of users’ fiat and bitcoin currencies. It also offers tax documentation and FDIC insurance for U.S. currency deposits.

Since itBit is regulated, it must pass yearly exams, complete capital requirements, and face oversight to ensure its bitcoins are secure. Additionally, the company must maintain a certain level of regulatory capital and is liable to repay users in the event any currency is lost or stolen.

The screenshot below shows the user’s wallet, which displays account balances across all currencies. The wallet also offers the option to deposit and withdraw from their account.

To make a deposit, the user selects the desired currency. For every deposit, itBit generates a unique address, corresponding to the user’s wallet, which ensures funds are routed directly into their itBit account. The wallet dashboard also offers a visualization of all historical deposits, withdrawals, and currency trades.

Make a trade

At the top of the trading platform, itBit highlights the best bid and ask in the market, as well as the 24-hour bitcoin trading-volume.

To buy bitcoin, the user enters their desired limit-order price and amount, which will be filled only if the price of bitcoin reaches the user’s specified limit-price. Once they click buy and confirm the trade, their account updates in real-time to reflect the purchase.

The order book displays all executed, cancelled, and live orders in the market to all users. This transparent view of trades enables users to conduct their own price analyses.

itBit operates on a maker-taker fee structure, meaning that it pays rebates to users who are making money on its platform via limit-order execution. The rebate section shows the user their available balance to use toward future trading fees.

itBit is available internationally to users from 67 countries. The startup has offices in New York City and Singapore. It is currently looking for bank partnerships.

Kicking off Day Two at FinovateSpring 2015 isitBit debuting its bitcoin trading platform:

itBit offers an institutional-grade exchange that is available to traders around the world. Our innovative platform, created for retail and institutional clients, adheres to the strictest levels of regulatory compliance. The exchange supports both REST API and the Financial Information Exchange (FIX) protocols to serve sophisticated traders.

Metrics: 32 employees; thousands of customers around the world use the exchange, from large financial institutions to major bitcoin merchant processors to individual enthusiasts; to date, the company has raised more than $30+ million in funding.

HQ: New York City, New YorkFounded: 2012Website:itbit.comTwitter: @itbit

Days away from its debut at FinovateSpring in San Jose, itBit has earned an investment of $25 million from new and existing investors. Participating in the round were Liberty City Venture, RRE Ventures, and individual investor, Jay W. Jordan II, as well as James Pallotta, chairman of Raptor Capital Management.

The round takes itBit’s total funding to more than $30 million. The company said in a statement that the capital will be used for both increasing investment in future products and services, as well as hiring talent in a wide variety of areas from engineering and operations to marketing and customer service.

Charles Cascarilla, itBit co-founder and CEO, explained that the approval from the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) will allow itBit to “serve as a custodian for our clients’ assets” and take advantage of the large pool of bitcoin traders in the U.S. Accounts will be dollar-denominated and FDIC-insured.

“Our mission at itBit has always been to create a trusted, institutional-grade exchange. Regulatory compliance is an important pillar of that mission,” Cascarilla said.

Founded in 2012 and headquartered in New York, itBit provides a platform for both institutional and retail traders and investors to buy and sell bitcoin. The company recently announced major additions to its board of directors: former FDIC chair Sheila Bair, former U.S. Senator Bill Bradley, and former FASB Chair Robert H.Herz.

Join itBit in San Jose for FinovateSpring 2015 next week. Seats are going quickly as we head for another record-breaking attendance at our annual spring event. Visit our registration page and save your spot today.

A total of 72 companies will be on stage at the City National Civic in San Jose, California, to demonstrate the latest in financial technology live in front of our audience of industry professionals, venture capitalists, bankers, media, and more. And along with more than 500 minutes of live demos, we make sure you’ve got plenty of time to meet, greet, and network with presenters, sponsors, and fellow attendees alike.

Today in our Sneak Peek Preview series, we’re featuring another seven companies to help you get to know a little more about the companies that will be presenting next month at FinovateSpring 2015.

Mark Zmarzly, CEO, Founder
Zmarzly is a passionate innovator and thought leader in the financial industry. He has delivered multiple TEDx talks and presented for the ABA, BAI, and JD Power & Associates.LinkedIn

Todd Cramer, Head of Digital Experience & Design
Cramer is a MBA with more than five years of experience in branding, user experience and eCommerce for a $5B bank enterprise.LinkedIn

itBit is a global bitcoin exchange offering institutional and retail investors a powerful platform to buy and sell bitcoin.

Features:

Trusted, institutional-grade exchange

Available around the clock

Offers the best security, privacy, and asset protection

Why it’s great
itBit is the most trusted and secure platform for trading bitcoin.

Presenters

Charles Cascarilla, CEO, Co-founder
As a bitcoin early adopter with more than 15 years’ experience in financial services, Cascarilla has a unique perspective and interest in integrating bitcoin with traditional systems.LinkedIn

Diane Morgan, Senior Business Development Manager
As Senior Mobile Business Development Manager at Kofax, Morgan partners with financial institutions to identify, develop, and execute their mobile capture and imaging strategies.LinkedIn

Mitek, the leading innovator of mobile imaging for financial transactions and identification, will demonstrate how to optimize mobile for secure customer acquisition.

Features:

Increase mobile form completion by 30-50%

Double number of accounts booked via mobile

Meet KYC requirements and complete ID check in mobile channel

Why it’s great
Mobile account opening starts are dramatically increasing while desktop is declining. Mitek’s next innovations will do for account opening what it did for check deposits.

Presenters

Michael Nelson, Vice President for Business Development
Nelson leads the business-development team focused on expanding mobile-imaging usage within banking and beyond.LinkedIn

Piotr Budzinski, CEO, Co-founder
Prior to NAMU, he led strategic technology projects for European banks and U.S. asset managers, including UniCredit and Franklin Templeton.LinkedIn

BuddyPay from Persistent Systems is a real-time payment-switching mechanism. The control of payment is shifted from buyer to payer for online/in-store purchases of products and services in real-time.

Features:

The Payment Switching Mechanism can be used while selling/fulfilling literally anything

Sell physical goods, insurance, billpay, flight and hotel booking

Intuitive mobile app

Why it’s great
You can “sell” products/services to people who don’t have money to “buy” it!

Presenters

Abhiram Modak, Principal Business Analyst & Industry Expert
Modak has multiple years of diverse experience and is an innovator at heart. He can come up with solutions to most complex business problem with his domain knowledge and technology understanding.LinkedIn